UNCOVERING ARIZONA’S CHILDHOOD: A HISTORY OF CHILDREN IN TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY ARIZONA

Abstract

This project seeks to understand the cultural complexities of life in Arizona from 1900-1920 from the perspective of the children that grew up during this time. Children reflect the societal norms of their time, yet also change and add to existing cultural practices as they develop. Their interactions with the unique culture of Arizona reveals a great deal about the specific ways culture changed and developed over this period. Various history classes and supplemental research provide context for this period in Arizonan history. Borderlands theory helps tie together seemingly disparate cultural threads from the archives. Memoirs of children and students from different cultural groups give children a voice in the story, while other sources that discuss children provide background on the views of children during this period. This study reveals that though Anglo culture dominated during this period, this required white community leaders to actively push against the natural blending of culture throughout the region, occurring in large part due to the mixed cultural upbringing of children.